The exhibition will fill the galleries, residence, and gardens with outstanding examples of varied contemporary art practices found in our city since the turn of the millennium. The works in Present Tense mark the seminal events in the artistic Renaissance that has taken place in Memphis over the past decade.I had 2 favorites. One was Swallow-Tailed Kite #3 (photo at that link) (2003-2004), acrylic on paper on plywood, by Fred Burton, which was a large piece on the back wall. I was struck by it and spent some time sitting in front of it.
My other favorite was This Must Be My Lucky Day (2005), a 14-minute video by Tommy Foster, which shows him releasing some well-beloved Wonder Horses into the wild. Priceless.
There was a companion exhibit of student art.
I didn't view the artwork situated outside, but just seeing the inside of the museum took me a couple of hours. It was a much larger exhibition than I expected, and my back had started to hurt by the time I was through. The videos were situated at eye-level for average-height folks standing. There were no chairs. I'm under 5' tall. It's no wonder I didn't see anybody else view the entirety of any of the videos. Not really a comfortable way to screen videos even as short as 14 minutes. Anyway, that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.
The next day I took The Daughter and went back. There was a photograph in the exhibit by a friend of hers from school, and she particularly wanted to see it. I happened to remember exactly where that piece was and could take her straight to it.
We also looked at the exhibits outside, and I'll say I'm not favorably impressed with cardboard art works as outside exhibits. Most were much the worse for wear, having gotten wet and fallen over. A few were still in good enough shape to take pictures of:
They were fun to look at, but I can't see them as the "sustainable" art they were intended to be. I see them more as disposable art, to be enjoyed for that one week they were on display and then to be discarded.
The Memphis College of Art has a press release.
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how interesting that they decided to put these pieces outside ... shame because I'm sure the artists put a lot of time and energy into them!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link. It took me awhile to look at "Present Tense" because there was so much interesting art there. I was particularly struck by "The Witness". Mixed media always draws my interest.
ReplyDeleteDarla
i agree with you, patty, some of those pieces were quite intricate but couldn't be expected to hold color and shape outside. i think i missed the point of the exhibit. it just seems a bit sad to me.
ReplyDeletedarla, there was a large collage that used pieces found in a parking lot over time. fascinating. i can picture it on my wall. i'm glad you liked the link
ReplyDelete